Official topics · annotated
Szeged Entrance Exam Topic List 2027, Annotated
All 127 topics of University of Szeged's official topic list, in its own words, each with what to know and the questions of our free sample test that test it. Tick a topic off when you have it; your ticks stay in this browser.
Based on "Entrance Examination Topics", dated 22 November 2023, the list University of Szeged's entrance-exam page still links (checked 16 October 2026). The official wording is quoted as printed; the notes and links are IvyTest's.
Before you start
How to use this list
The University of Szeged lists these topics for Biology, Chemistry and, upon request instead of Chemistry, Physics, with recommended reading for each: "Life, The Science of Biology" for Biology; McMurry and Fay, "Chemistry", 6th edition, for Chemistry; and Holzner's "Physics essentials for dummies", Serway and Jewett's "Physics for scientists and engineers" and others for Physics. It publishes no topic list for the 20 General and Medical English questions, whose only official material is the sample test (grammar and vocabulary, then medical English), and IvyTest's practice paper follows that sample. Work through a group at a time: read the note, check yourself on the practice paper's questions, then tick the topic.
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26 topics
Biology: 1. Cell Biology
Biological Molecules and Enzymes
What to know: Triglycerides (glycerol esterified with three fatty acids, saturated or unsaturated) as energy stores, amphipathic phospholipids as the membrane bilayer, steroids such as cholesterol and the steroid hormones, and waxes; lipids are insoluble in water.
Biological Molecules and Enzymes
What to know: Monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, galactose, ribose, deoxyribose), disaccharides (sucrose, lactose, maltose) joined by glycosidic bonds, and the polysaccharides starch and glycogen (stores) and cellulose and chitin (structure).
Biological Molecules and Enzymes
What to know: Primary is the amino-acid sequence held by peptide bonds; secondary the α-helix and β-pleated sheet held by backbone hydrogen bonds; tertiary the 3D fold held by side-chain disulfide, ionic, hydrogen and hydrophobic interactions; quaternary the assembly of several chains, as in haemoglobin.
Biological Molecules and Enzymes
What to know: Nucleotides of base, pentose and phosphate linked by phosphodiester bonds; DNA as an antiparallel double helix of deoxyribose with A–T (two hydrogen bonds) and G–C (three) pairs, RNA as a usually single strand of ribose with uracil in place of thymine.
Biological Molecules and Enzymes
What to know: mRNA carries the code from DNA to the ribosome, tRNA brings amino acids and reads codons with its anticodon, rRNA forms the ribosome and catalyses the peptide bond; small RNAs (snRNA in splicing, miRNA in silencing) regulate expression.
Biological Molecules and Enzymes
What to know: Enzymes as mostly protein catalysts that lower activation energy at a specific active site without changing ΔG; their dependence on temperature, pH and substrate concentration (Km, Vmax), cofactors, competitive and non-competitive inhibition, allosteric and feedback regulation, and covalent modification such as phosphorylation.
Cellular Respiration and ATP Production
What to know: In the cytoplasm one glucose is split into two pyruvate with a net gain of 2 ATP (by substrate-level phosphorylation) and 2 NADH, without oxygen; without oxygen, pyruvate is reduced to lactate (or ethanol in yeast) to regenerate NAD⁺.
Cellular Respiration and ATP Production
What to know: In the mitochondrial matrix, acetyl-CoA (from pyruvate by the link reaction, which releases 1 CO₂ and 1 NADH) joins oxaloacetate to make citrate; each turn releases 2 CO₂ and yields 3 NADH, 1 FADH₂ and 1 GTP (or ATP).
Cellular Respiration and ATP Production
What to know: NADH and FADH₂ pass electrons along the electron transport chain in the inner membrane to O₂, the final acceptor, making water; the energy pumps H⁺ into the intermembrane space and the gradient drives ATP synthase (chemiosmosis), about 30–32 ATP per glucose in all.
Replication, Transcription and Translation
What to know: Semiconservative copying in S phase: helicase unwinds the helix by breaking hydrogen bonds, primase lays RNA primers, DNA polymerase adds nucleotides only 5′→3′, continuously on the leading strand and in Okazaki fragments on the lagging strand, which ligase joins.
Replication, Transcription and Translation
What to know: RNA polymerase binds the promoter and reads the template strand 3′→5′, building RNA 5′→3′, complementary to the template and with U for T; in eukaryotes the pre-mRNA gets a 5′ cap and poly-A tail and its introns are spliced out in the nucleus.
Replication, Transcription and Translation
What to know: On the ribosome, tRNAs pair their anticodons with mRNA codons read 5′→3′, starting at AUG (methionine) and moving through the A, P and E sites as peptide bonds form, until a stop codon (UAA, UAG, UGA) brings release factors.
Cell Structure and Organelles
What to know: The double nuclear envelope continuous with the rough ER and crossed by nuclear pores, chromatin (euchromatin and heterochromatin) and the nucleolus, where rRNA is made and ribosomal subunits are assembled.
Cell Structure and Organelles
What to know: DNA wound around histone octamers into nucleosomes and coiled further into chromatin; a replicated chromosome as two sister chromatids joined at the centromere, telomeres at the ends, and the human karyotype of 46 (22 pairs of autosomes plus XX or XY).
Cell Structure and Organelles
What to know: Rough ER, studded with ribosomes, makes secretory and membrane proteins and begins their glycosylation; smooth ER makes lipids and steroids, detoxifies drugs (liver) and stores Ca²⁺ (the sarcoplasmic reticulum of muscle).
Cell Structure and Organelles
What to know: Stacked cisternae that receive vesicles from the ER at the cis face, modify proteins (glycosylation) and sort them at the trans face into secretory vesicles, membrane vesicles and lysosomes.
Cell Structure and Organelles
What to know: rRNA and protein in a large and a small subunit, 80S in the eukaryotic cytoplasm and 70S in bacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts; free ribosomes make cytosolic proteins and those on the rough ER make proteins for secretion and membranes.
Cell Structure and Organelles
What to know: Microtubules of tubulin (spindle, the 9 + 2 core of cilia and flagella, tracks for vesicles), actin microfilaments (microvilli, the contractile ring, cell movement) and intermediate filaments such as keratin that give tensile strength.
The Cell Membrane and Transport
What to know: Exocytosis as vesicles fusing with the plasma membrane to release their contents (hormones, neurotransmitters); endocytosis as the membrane folding in to take material up, by phagocytosis, pinocytosis or receptor-mediated uptake through clathrin-coated pits, as for LDL.
The Cell Membrane and Transport
What to know: The fluid-mosaic model: a phospholipid bilayer with cholesterol, integral and peripheral proteins and a glycocalyx of glycolipids and glycoproteins on the outside, selectively permeable to small non-polar molecules.
Mitosis and Meiosis
What to know: After interphase (G1, S, G2), prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase separate sister chromatids so that two genetically identical diploid daughter cells form, the cytoplasm dividing by cytokinesis.
Mitosis and Meiosis
What to know: One replication followed by two divisions: meiosis I pairs and separates homologous chromosomes (crossing over in prophase I, independent assortment), meiosis II separates sister chromatids, giving four haploid, genetically different cells.
Bacterial Cells and Viruses
What to know: Prokaryotic cells with no nucleus or membrane-bound organelles: a circular chromosome in the nucleoid, plasmids, 70S ribosomes, a peptidoglycan cell wall (thick in Gram-positive, thin with an outer membrane in Gram-negative), sometimes a capsule, flagella and pili.
Bacterial Cells and Viruses
What to know: The three routes of gene transfer between bacteria: transformation takes up free DNA from the surroundings, conjugation passes DNA (often a plasmid) through a pilus by direct contact, and transduction carries bacterial DNA inside a bacteriophage.
Bacterial Cells and Viruses
What to know: Acellular particles of a DNA or RNA genome in a protein capsid, sometimes inside a lipid envelope taken from the host membrane; obligate intracellular parasites with lytic and lysogenic cycles, and retroviruses such as HIV that use reverse transcriptase.
The Cell Membrane and Transport
What to know: Passive simple and facilitated diffusion (channels, carriers such as GLUT) and osmosis through aquaporins; primary active transport by ATP-splitting pumps such as the Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase (3 Na⁺ out, 2 K⁺ in) and secondary active transport driven by an ion gradient, as in Na⁺–glucose symport.
32 topics
Biology: 2. Physiology
Digestion and Absorption
What to know: The tract from mouth, pharynx and oesophagus to stomach, small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) and large intestine, with the salivary glands, liver, gall bladder and pancreas as accessory organs.
Digestion and Absorption
What to know: Amylases (salivary, pancreatic), pepsin, trypsin and other proteases, and lipase helped by bile's emulsification; absorption through the villi and microvilli of the small intestine, with fats reassembled into chylomicrons that enter the lacteals, and most water absorbed in the small intestine and the rest in the colon.
Respiration and Gas Exchange
What to know: Nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles and alveoli; inhalation is active (diaphragm contracts and flattens, external intercostals lift the ribs, pressure in the lungs falls), quiet exhalation passive by elastic recoil.
Respiration and Gas Exchange
What to know: Gases move by diffusion down their partial-pressure gradients across the thin alveolar–capillary membrane; the rate rises with surface area and the pressure difference and falls with membrane thickness (Fick's law). Most O₂ travels bound to haemoglobin, most CO₂ as bicarbonate.
Excretion and Kidney Function
What to know: Kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra; the nephron as the unit: glomerulus and Bowman's capsule, proximal tubule, loop of Henle, distal tubule and collecting duct.
Excretion and Kidney Function
What to know: Filtration in the glomerulus, reabsorption of most Na⁺, water, glucose and amino acids in the proximal tubule, the countercurrent loop of Henle (descending limb permeable to water, thick ascending limb pumping out NaCl but impermeable to water), aldosterone on Na⁺ in the distal tubule and ADH on water in the collecting duct.
Circulation, Blood and Immunity
What to know: The systemic and pulmonary circuits; arteries (thick, elastic walls), arterioles, capillaries (one-cell-thick exchange vessels), venules and veins (valves, low pressure), and the vessels at the heart: venae cavae, pulmonary trunk, pulmonary veins and aorta.
Circulation, Blood and Immunity
What to know: Four chambers, atrioventricular (tricuspid, mitral) and semilunar valves, the conducting system (sinoatrial node as pacemaker, atrioventricular node, bundle of His, Purkinje fibres), and the cardiac cycle with its isovolumetric phases when all valves are closed.
Circulation, Blood and Immunity
What to know: Plasma (about 55%: water, proteins such as albumin and fibrinogen, ions) and formed elements: red cells without nuclei carrying haemoglobin, white cells (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils) and platelets for clotting; the ABO and Rh groups.
Circulation, Blood and Immunity
What to know: T lymphocytes, matured in the thymus, recognise antigen presented on MHC molecules: helper (CD4) T cells activate other cells by cytokines and cytotoxic (CD8) T cells kill infected and tumour cells; memory T cells persist.
Circulation, Blood and Immunity
What to know: B lymphocytes, activated by antigen and helper T cells, become plasma cells that secrete antibodies (IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE, IgD), Y-shaped proteins that neutralise, agglutinate and opsonise; memory B cells give the faster secondary response that vaccines rely on.
Bones, Joints and Muscle Contraction
What to know: Skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle; bone as osteocytes in a calcified collagen matrix with marrow, built by osteoblasts and resorbed by osteoclasts; joints (fibrous, cartilaginous, synovial), tendons joining muscle to bone and ligaments bone to bone.
Bones, Joints and Muscle Contraction
What to know: The sliding-filament mechanism: an action potential releases Ca²⁺ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, Ca²⁺ binds troponin and moves tropomyosin off actin, myosin heads form cross-bridges and pull, and ATP binding releases them (hence rigor mortis without ATP).
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: Testes (seminiferous tubules making sperm, Leydig cells making testosterone, Sertoli cells supporting them), epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate, bulbourethral glands, urethra and penis.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: Ovaries with their follicles, the uterine (Fallopian) tubes where fertilisation usually takes place, the uterus with its endometrium and myometrium, the cervix and the vagina.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: A roughly 28-day cycle: the follicular phase and ovulation at about day 14, then the luteal phase of the corpus luteum, in step with the menstrual, proliferative (oestrogen) and secretory (progesterone) phases of the endometrium.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: GnRH from the hypothalamus releases FSH and LH from the anterior pituitary; in women the LH surge triggers ovulation and oestrogen and progesterone feed back on the axis, in men LH drives testosterone and FSH spermatogenesis, with hCG maintaining the corpus luteum in pregnancy.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: The anterior pituitary, controlled by hypothalamic releasing hormones, secretes GH, TSH, ACTH, FSH, LH and prolactin; the posterior pituitary releases ADH and oxytocin made in the hypothalamus.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: The cortex secretes aldosterone (Na⁺ and K⁺ balance), cortisol (stress, raises blood glucose) and androgens; the medulla secretes adrenaline and noradrenaline under sympathetic control.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: Iodine-containing thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) raise the metabolic rate and are controlled by TSH, with negative feedback; calcitonin from the C cells lowers blood Ca²⁺, opposing parathyroid hormone.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: The islets of Langerhans: β cells secrete insulin, which lowers blood glucose, α cells glucagon, which raises it, and δ cells somatostatin; the rest of the gland is exocrine, secreting digestive enzymes.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: Two-neuron pathways in two divisions: sympathetic (thoracolumbar, fight or flight, noradrenaline at most targets) and parasympathetic (craniosacral, largely through the vagus nerve, rest and digest, acetylcholine), usually acting on the same organs in opposite directions.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: Grey matter in an H-shaped core surrounded by white matter tracts, dorsal (sensory) and ventral (motor) roots; the reflex arc of receptor, afferent neuron, centre, efferent neuron and effector, as in the monosynaptic knee-jerk reflex.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: Cerebrum, diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus), brainstem (midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata) and cerebellum; frontal lobe for motor control and planning, parietal for body sensation, temporal for hearing and memory, occipital for vision.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: Dendrites, cell body, axon, myelin sheath with nodes of Ranvier and axon terminals; a resting potential of about −70 mV kept by the Na⁺/K⁺ pump and K⁺ leak, and an all-or-none action potential of Na⁺ influx (depolarisation) then K⁺ efflux (repolarisation), conducted saltatorily along myelinated axons.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: An arriving action potential opens Ca²⁺ channels, vesicles release transmitter (acetylcholine, noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, GABA) by exocytosis, it binds postsynaptic receptors to excite or inhibit, and is removed by enzymes such as acetylcholinesterase or by reuptake.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: Sclera and cornea, choroid, ciliary body and iris, lens, and the retina with the fovea (cones only) and the blind spot where the optic nerve leaves; the aqueous and vitreous humours.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: Cornea and lens focus light on the retina, accommodation by the ciliary muscle changing the lens's curvature; rods (rhodopsin, dim light) and three types of cones (colour) signal through bipolar and ganglion cells to the optic nerve and the occipital cortex.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: The outer ear and eardrum, the ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes) passing vibration to the oval window, and the cochlea, where the basilar membrane's hair cells in the organ of Corti respond, high frequencies near the base and low ones near the apex.
Nervous System and Sense Organs
What to know: Olfactory receptor neurons in the roof of the nasal cavity, each carrying one type of odorant receptor (chemoreceptors), send axons through the cribriform plate to the olfactory bulb and on to the cortex without first passing through the thalamus.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: Insulin lowers blood glucose by uptake into muscle and fat and glycogen synthesis; glucagon raises it by hepatic glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, helped by adrenaline, cortisol and growth hormone; type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Endocrine System and Reproduction
What to know: The fast sympathetic–adrenal medullary response (adrenaline and noradrenaline raise heart rate, blood pressure and glucose) and the slower hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (CRH, then ACTH, then cortisol), with cortisol's negative feedback.
9 topics
Biology: 3. Genetics
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: Uniformity of the F1, segregation of the two alleles of a gene into separate gametes (3:1 in the F2 of a monohybrid cross) and independent assortment of genes on different chromosomes (9:3:3:1 in a dihybrid cross), and the test cross.
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: A gene as a DNA sequence with a promoter and other regulatory regions, a transcribed region and a terminator; eukaryotic genes split into exons and introns, bacterial genes usually not, and often grouped in operons.
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: Expression controlled at chromatin (DNA methylation, histone modification), transcription (transcription factors, enhancers), RNA processing (alternative splicing), translation, and after translation (protein modification and degradation).
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: Point mutations (silent, missense, nonsense), frameshifts from insertions or deletions of bases not in multiples of three, chromosome mutations (deletion, duplication, inversion, translocation) and genome mutations; germline against somatic, and mutagens.
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: Aneuploidy from non-disjunction: trisomy 21 (Down), 18 (Edwards), 13 (Patau), 47,XXY (Klinefelter) and the monosomy 45,X (Turner); single-gene diseases such as cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anaemia, phenylketonuria and Huntington's disease.
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: Genotype and phenotype, homozygous and heterozygous; autosomal dominant traits appear in every generation with a 50% risk from one affected heterozygous parent, autosomal recessive traits skip generations with a 25% risk from two carriers; incomplete dominance and codominance (AB blood group).
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: X-linked recessive traits (haemophilia, red–green colour blindness, Duchenne dystrophy) mostly affect males, who are hemizygous and inherit their X from their mother; there is no father-to-son transmission, and a carrier mother passes the allele to half of her sons.
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: Triplet codons, 64 codons for 20 amino acids, so the code is redundant (degenerate) but not ambiguous; AUG as the start codon, UAA, UAG and UGA as stops, read without overlap or gaps, and nearly universal.
Genetics and Inheritance
What to know: In E. coli the lacZ, lacY and lacA genes share one promoter and operator; the repressor binds the operator unless lactose (as allolactose) inactivates it, and with low glucose the cAMP–CAP complex boosts transcription.
2 topics
Biology: 4. Evolution
Evolution and the Origin of Life
What to know: Variation within populations, overproduction of offspring, competition and natural selection of the fittest variants, leading to adaptation and common descent; how it differs from Lamarck's inheritance of acquired characteristics.
Evolution and the Origin of Life
What to know: Chemical evolution in a reducing early atmosphere (the Miller–Urey experiment made amino acids from methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water with sparks), the RNA-world hypothesis, protocells, the first prokaryotes about 3.5 billion years ago, and endosymbiosis for mitochondria and chloroplasts.
15 topics
Chemistry: 1. General and Inorganic Chemistry
Atomic Structure and the Mole
What to know: Elements, compounds and mixtures; one mole as 6.022 × 10²³ particles, n = m/M and N = n·Nₐ, and counting atoms within formula units (0.25 mol Na₂SO₄ holds 1 mol of O atoms).
Atomic Structure and the Mole
What to know: Protons, neutrons and electrons, atomic number, mass number and isotopes; the principal (n), angular momentum (l), magnetic (mₗ) and spin (mₛ) quantum numbers, the Pauli principle, Hund's rule and a shell holding at most 2n² electrons.
The Periodic Table and Periodic Properties
What to know: Groups, periods and s, p, d and f blocks; atomic radius decreasing across a period and increasing down a group, ionisation energy and electronegativity the opposite way, fluorine the most electronegative element.
Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry
What to know: Ionic bonds between metals and non-metals, covalent bonds (polar or non-polar, single, double, triple, σ and π), coordinate bonds and metallic bonding, judged by electronegativity difference.
Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry
What to know: Drawing bonding and lone pairs to satisfy the octet, and VSEPR shapes: linear (CO₂, HCN), trigonal planar (BF₃), tetrahedral (CH₄, 109.5°), trigonal pyramidal (NH₃) and bent (H₂O), and whether the molecule is polar.
Intermolecular Forces and Types of Solids
What to know: London dispersion forces, dipole–dipole forces and hydrogen bonds (H on N, O or F) and their effect on boiling points; ionic, molecular, metallic and covalent network solids (diamond, quartz SiO₂) and their properties.
Chemical Equilibrium
What to know: Dynamic equilibrium and the equilibrium constant K; a system shifts to counteract a change in concentration, pressure (towards fewer gas moles) or temperature (an exothermic reaction shifts left on heating), while a catalyst changes no position. Examples: the Haber process, N₂O₄ ⇌ 2NO₂.
Acids, Bases and pH
What to know: Arrhenius (H⁺ and OH⁻ in water), Brønsted–Lowry (proton donor and acceptor, conjugate pairs, amphoteric water) and Lewis (electron-pair acceptor and donor) definitions.
Acids, Bases and pH
What to know: pH = −log[H⁺], Kw = 10⁻¹⁴ at 25 °C so pH + pOH = 14; strong acids (HCl, HNO₃, H₂SO₄) and bases (NaOH, KOH) ionise fully, weak ones (acetic acid, carbonic acid, ammonia) partly; a 0.1 mol/L monoprotic strong acid has pH 1.
Solutions and Concentration
What to know: Solute, solvent and solubility; mass percent, molar concentration c = n/V, mass concentration and mole fraction, dilution (c₁V₁ = c₂V₂) and mixing (add the moles, add the volumes).
Oxidation and Reduction
What to know: Oxidation as loss of electrons (rising oxidation number) and reduction as gain, the rules for oxidation numbers, oxidising and reducing agents, and examples such as metal displacement, combustion and the disproportionation of Cl₂ in NaOH to Cl⁻ and ClO⁻.
Compounds of Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur
What to know: The allotropes diamond, graphite and fullerenes; carbon monoxide (toxic, binds haemoglobin), carbon dioxide and carbonic acid, carbonates and hydrogencarbonates.
Compounds of Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur
What to know: Unreactive N₂ with its triple bond, ammonia (basic, made by the Haber process) and ammonium salts, the oxides NO and NO₂, and nitric acid, a strong oxidising acid, and its nitrates.
Compounds of Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur
What to know: White (reactive, stored under water) and red phosphorus, P₄O₁₀, phosphoric acid H₃PO₄ (triprotic, weak) and phosphates in bones, ATP and nucleic acids.
Compounds of Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur
What to know: Hydrogen sulfide, SO₂ and SO₃, sulfurous acid and sulfuric acid (strong, diprotic, dehydrating and in concentrated form oxidising) and sulfates; oxidation states from −2 to +6.
15 topics
Chemistry: 2. Organic Chemistry
Functional Groups, Isomerism and Reaction Types
What to know: Recognising hydroxyl, ether, carbonyl, carboxyl, ester, amino and amide groups; substitution, addition, elimination (such as dehydrating ethanol to ethene with hot concentrated H₂SO₄), condensation, hydrolysis, oxidation and reduction.
Functional Groups, Isomerism and Reaction Types
What to know: Constitutional isomers (chain, position, functional group: ethanol and dimethyl ether) and stereoisomers: cis–trans isomers about a C=C and optical isomers of a chiral carbon with four different groups.
Hydrocarbons
What to know: CₙH₂ₙ₊₂, IUPAC naming by the longest chain with the lowest locants, boiling points rising with chain length and falling with branching, combustion and free-radical substitution with halogens in light.
Hydrocarbons
What to know: CₙH₂ₙ and CₙH₂ₙ₋₂, -ene and -yne names, addition of H₂, halogens (decolourising bromine water), hydrogen halides (Markovnikov's rule) and water, and polymerisation; cis–trans isomerism in alkenes.
Hydrocarbons
What to know: Benzene's delocalised π system makes it favour electrophilic substitution over addition: halogenation with an FeBr₃ catalyst gives bromobenzene and HBr, plus nitration and alkylation; toluene and naphthalene as examples.
Alcohols, Ethers and Phenols
What to know: Primary, secondary and tertiary, and mono- and polyhydric alcohols; preparation by hydration of alkenes, fermentation and reduction of carbonyls; hydrogen bonding gives high boiling points and water solubility for the small ones.
Alcohols, Ethers and Phenols
What to know: Oxidation (primary to aldehyde and acid, secondary to ketone, tertiary resistant), dehydration to alkenes or ethers, esterification and reaction with sodium; methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol and glycerol.
Alcohols, Ethers and Phenols
What to know: Ethers R–O–R′, such as diethyl ether, are fairly unreactive with low boiling points; phenol is a weak acid that reacts with NaOH, unlike alcohols, gives a violet colour with FeCl₃ and readily undergoes substitution on the ring.
Oxo Compounds and Carboxylic Acids
What to know: Aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde) and ketones (acetone); aldehydes oxidise to carboxylic acids and give positive Tollens' and Fehling's tests while ketones do not, and reduction gives primary alcohols from aldehydes and secondary alcohols from ketones.
Oxo Compounds and Carboxylic Acids
What to know: Formic, acetic, oxalic (ethanedioic, diprotic) and the fatty acids; hydrogen-bonded dimers and high boiling points, weak acidity, salts with bases (one oxalic acid neutralises two NaOH) and esterification.
Oxo Compounds and Carboxylic Acids
What to know: Esters formed from an acid and an alcohol (reversible, acid-catalysed) and hydrolysed by acid or by base (saponification of fats); amides from acids and amines, the peptide bond as an amide, and urea.
Amines, Amino Acids and the Peptide Bond
What to know: Primary, secondary and tertiary amines as derivatives of ammonia, weak bases that form ammonium salts with acids and amides with acids or their derivatives; methylamine and aniline as examples.
Amines, Amino Acids and the Peptide Bond
What to know: The 20 α-amino acids (all chiral but glycine, L in proteins), zwitterions and the isoelectric point, and the peptide bond formed by condensation; n amino acids, each usable any number of times, make n² different dipeptides.
Carbohydrates and Nucleic Acid Components
What to know: Polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones: aldoses and ketoses (glucose, fructose, ribose), disaccharides (maltose and lactose reducing, sucrose non-reducing) and polysaccharides (starch, glycogen, cellulose), with α and β glycosidic bonds.
Carbohydrates and Nucleic Acid Components
What to know: Purine (adenine, guanine) and pyrimidine (cytosine, thymine, uracil) bases, ribose and 2-deoxyribose, phosphate; a nucleoside as base plus sugar and a nucleotide as nucleoside plus phosphate.
28 topics
Physics (upon request instead of Chemistry)
Kinematics
What to know: Average speed as distance over time and average velocity as displacement over time (zero for a full lap), acceleration a = Δv/Δt, and free fall with g ≈ 10 m/s²: v = v₀ − gt and h = v₀t − ½gt² for a vertical throw.
Heat and Thermal Properties
What to know: Q = mcΔT (water's c ≈ 4.2 kJ/(kg·K)), heat capacity C = Q/ΔT, and Q = mL for melting or boiling at constant temperature.
Newton's Laws and Forces
What to know: Inertia, F = ma with the net force as the vector sum of all forces acting, and action–reaction pairs on different bodies; in a lift accelerating upwards the normal force is m(g + a).
Gases and Thermodynamics
What to know: pV = nRT with T in kelvin; Boyle's law (pV constant at constant T), Gay-Lussac's laws V/T constant at constant p and p/T constant at constant V.
Newton's Laws and Forces
What to know: Mass in kg as a measure of inertia and weight W = mg in newtons; F = Gm₁m₂/r², so gravity falls with the square of distance, and g at the Earth's surface is GM/R².
Gases and Thermodynamics
What to know: The average kinetic energy of a molecule is (3/2)kT, so the rms speed is proportional to √T; ΔU = Q + W (heat added plus work done on the gas), with W = 0 at constant volume and ΔU = 0 at constant temperature for an ideal gas.
Work, Energy and Momentum
What to know: W = Fs·cos θ in joules, Eₖ = ½mv², and the net work on a body equals its change in kinetic energy (negative when it slows down).
Electrostatics and Capacitance
What to know: Charge is quantised in units of e = 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C and conserved; F = kq₁q₂/r² with k = 1/(4πε₀) ≈ 9 × 10⁹ N·m²/C², like charges repelling and unlike attracting.
Work, Energy and Momentum
What to know: Gravitational potential energy mgh and elastic ½kx²; in a closed system without friction mechanical energy is conserved, and in general energy changes form but its total stays the same.
Electrostatics and Capacitance
What to know: E = F/q, field lines from + to −, flux Φ = EA·cos θ, and Gauss's law Φ = Q_enclosed/ε₀ (charges outside contribute nothing); potential V = W/q, U = Ed in a uniform field, and equipotential surfaces perpendicular to field lines.
Work, Energy and Momentum
What to know: p = mv, impulse FΔt = Δp, and conservation of momentum in collisions and recoil; in a perfectly inelastic collision the bodies move together and kinetic energy is lost.
Electrostatics and Capacitance
What to know: C = Q/U and for parallel plates C = ε₀εᵣA/d, energy ½CU² = Q²/(2C); with the battery connected U stays fixed, so doubling d halves C and halves the stored energy.
Torque, Equilibrium and Circular Motion
What to know: Torque M = F·d, force times the perpendicular lever arm d; a body is in equilibrium when the net force is zero and the net torque about any point is zero.
Current, Resistance and Circuits
What to know: I = Q/t, R = U/I and R = ρl/A, power P = UI = I²R = U²/R, and the closed-circuit form I = ε/(R + r) with terminal voltage ε − Ir.
Torque, Equilibrium and Circular Motion
What to know: Constant speed with a changing direction: a = v²/r = ω²r towards the centre, provided by a real force such as friction, tension or gravity (F = mv²/r); period T and frequency f = 1/T.
Current, Resistance and Circuits
What to know: The junction rule (currents in equal currents out, conservation of charge) and the loop rule (the sum of potential differences round a closed loop is zero, conservation of energy), which give series and parallel resistance.
Newton's Laws and Forces
What to know: Static friction matches the applied force up to μₛN, kinetic friction is μₖN once sliding; Hooke's law F = kx (or −kx as the restoring force) within the elastic limit.
Magnetism and Alternating Current
What to know: Magnetic flux density B in tesla, the force on a moving charge F = qvB·sin α, and on a wire F = BIl·sin α, perpendicular to both (left-hand or right-hand rule).
Simple Harmonic Motion and Elasticity
What to know: x = A·sin(ωt), v maximal (Aω) at equilibrium, a = −ω²x maximal at the turning points, ω = 2πf = 2π/T, T = 2π√(m/k) for a spring; total energy ½kA², so at x = A/2 three quarters is kinetic.
Magnetism and Alternating Current
What to know: A changing magnetic flux induces an emf ε = −ΔΦ/Δt (times the number of turns), and the induced current flows so as to oppose the change that causes it (Lenz's law, the minus sign).
Waves and Sound
What to know: v = fλ, transverse and longitudinal waves, constructive and destructive interference, standing waves with nodes and antinodes (a tube closed at one end resonates first at λ = 4L), sound as a longitudinal wave, and the Doppler shift to higher frequency as source and listener approach.
Magnetism and Alternating Current
What to know: Effective (rms) values U_eff = U_peak/√2, so average power in a resistor is U_eff²/R; reactances X_L = ωL and X_C = 1/(ωC), and series resonance at f = 1/(2π√(LC)).
Fluids and Buoyancy
What to know: p = F/A; hydrostatic pressure p = ρgh depends on depth only, not the container's shape; Pascal's principle and the hydraulic press F₁/A₁ = F₂/A₂.
Optics
What to know: c = 3 × 10⁸ m/s in vacuum, visible light from about 400 to 700 nm; the law of reflection, Snell's law n₁ sin α = n₂ sin β with n = c/v, total internal reflection, and dispersion of white light into colours by a prism because n depends on wavelength.
Fluids and Buoyancy
What to know: The buoyant force equals the weight of fluid displaced, F = ρ_fluid·V·g; a body floats when its average density is less than the fluid's, and its apparent weight submerged is its weight minus the buoyant force.
Optics
What to know: The thin-lens and mirror equation 1/f = 1/dₒ + 1/dᵢ with magnification dᵢ/dₒ, real and virtual images (an object between f and 2f of a converging lens gives a real, inverted, magnified image beyond 2f), and the magnifying glass, microscope and the eye.
Heat and Thermal Properties
What to know: Celsius and kelvin (T = t + 273), linear expansion Δl = αl₀ΔT and volume expansion ΔV = βV₀ΔT with β ≈ 3α for solids, and water's anomalous expansion below 4 °C.
Atomic Physics
What to know: Nucleus and electron shells; absorbing a photon or collision energy raises an electron to a higher level, relaxation emits a photon of energy hf = E₂ − E₁, and ionisation removes the electron completely (13.6 eV from hydrogen's ground state, 3.4 eV from n = 2).
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The free sample test sets 60 questions in the exam's own format, every one explained. The Szeged Entrance Exam guide has the format, dates and scoring in full.